IMPORTANT: THIS IS NOT A RESEARCH PAPER. This is about your observations of the visual composition of an artwork and what you’ve learned so far in this class. This homework is about slow looking.

It’s about being able to look at a composition and see where thelines are, how they function, how space is used, color palette, balance,focal point….ETC. It’s about observing choices by the artist youselect and coming to some decision about why they’ve made those choices in a work of art. The decisions about creating the artwork are formal decisions (decisions about the form). Now, how are formal decisions related to meaning?

ASSIGNMENT: Write a critical analysis paper on ONE of the five artworks below. Afterreading the Lectures on the Critical Process and analyzing works, yourassignment is to critically analyze one work of art using the methodthat is modeled for you in the SAMPLE PAPERS. A paper is a formally written composition.

TO START and BEFORE you write: Note the title, artist, medium, and date of the work. Do a careful visual inventory and write down what you see. Make a ‘grocery list’ of details and observations.

Find the lines, what kind of lines and how they function inthe composition. What kind of colors are being used? Is the artistattempting to set up a psychological state of mind with the choice ofcolor palette? What is the relationship between the objects/figures inthe works? Space? Is texture important? Is there a single focal point?What is the point of the focal point(s)? How are the focal pointsestablished?

Go back to the Elements of Art and Principles ofDesign lectures and make sure you think about all the visual tools anartist can choose from. I’m talking about lines, framing devices, directionals, balance…etc., the tools of creating visual form ( FORMAL ANALYSIS).Remember, the artist is trying to get the viewer into the compositionand make them move their eyes around the artwork to find areas of visualinterest and perhaps focal point(s) that may somehow illuminate ameaning if there is one.

Come to a decision about meaning, possible meaning—what the artist is trying to convey—then start writing.

FYI: this grocery list DOES NOT COMPRISE YOUR PAPER. You are using it to brainstorm.

IMPORTANT!! If you do not talk about the elements of art & principles of design, you will not receive full credit. That is the whole point of this exercise.

When deciding what an artwork is about, think in terms of what theartist is attempting to communicate to you the viewer. It may or may notbe a narrative, a story. It might be a message that is simpler or morecomplex in nature. But remember this: your claims regarding the artworkand the artist’s message/content MUST be supported with visual details.

I will give you a choice of works to write on. And remember, goodform in writing always includes starting out saying what you will do,and in this case, states the work of art completely (full title, artistname, medium, date) that you’ve chosen to write on. Please note thattitles of artworks are always shown in italics. AND MAY I SAY: Work onyour own. Do not consult the Web or any other online help. REALLY: YOU can do this!

**AND THE REMINDER: Canvas uses Turnitinto check everything you turn in for plagiarism & copying againstONLINE WEB SOURCES, past/current MU students as well as the Nationaldatabase of colleges, universities and high schools (yes, high schools).I have to put this here because there has been abuse in the recent pastby your fellow MU students. I HAVE FAITH that you can do this. Observe,reflect, write!

Again, this is NOTa research paper! Do not scour the web for info to use! You’reselecting an image to look at closely, ponder, and decide what meaningis there, if there is a meaning! What could it mean?

IF YOU CANNOT THINK OF ENOUGH TO WRITE, then please choose something else!! (simple solution!).

LENGTH: To understand what is expected, see the MODEL PAPERdone on Hopper’s painting in the next entry in this Module (900-1000words)

DUE: no later than WEDNESDAY, 7 October, by midnight! (40 points).

FIVE CHOICES (choose ONE to analyze)

CHOICE #1: Audrey Flack, Marilyn (Vanitas), 1977, oil over acrylic paint. (note: this painting has a subtitle inparentheses; this may hold a key to the work.) ARTWORK BELOW:

CHOICE #2: Kerry James Marshall, School of Beauty, School of Culture (2012); oil paint. ARTWORK BELOW:

CHOICE #3. Erika Harrsch, Inverted Sky (2012), acrylic paint, ink, collage.

ARTWORK BELOW:

CHOICE #4. Robert Frank, Trolley: New Orleans, (1955), from the series The Americans; photograph. ARTWORK BELOW:

CHOICE #5. Lee Friedlander, Cincinnati, Ohio, 1963; silver gelatin photograph (11×14 inches) ARTWORK BELOW:

.

student checklist:

• I fully identified the artwork I selected to write about.
• I did NOT include my grocery list of observations (the grocery list is for your use only).
• I talked about the Elements of Art AND the Principles of Design that are used by the artist in the artwork I selected.
• I addressed possible meanings or messages in my paper.
• I turned it in by Wednesday, 7 October, using doc, docx, or pdf